picked this baby up....

.... for our Finnish home today.  We saw it on our way out of the store and couldn't resist!

Happy Memorial Day Weekend to my fellow Americans!  Have a fun and safe weekend, and don't forget to remember and thank our fallen heros! ♥

i'm alive, i swear . . . .

I know, I know... it's been over a month since I've written a new post.  And even longer since I've written on a regular basis.  But I'm on my way back to the blog world... for realllllll this time. 

There has been a ton of stuff going on in the "adventures" lives of C and J (sounds like it should be a book or something, huh?)  that has kept me from posting on a daily (or weekly, or monthly...) basis.  But I've decided that I'm back and I'm ready to share... the good, the bad, and the ugly.

I've got all kinds of new ideas to refresh the site in my head, and working on getting them down onto paper so I can hopefully follow through and make them a reality.  My life has changed a lot in the last few months, and I think that it only makes sense for my little corner of the world wide web to evolve along with me.  This is a blog about my life, after all! :)

So be sure to come back soon to check in on what's been going on.  Lots of stories and changes to come, so pick a night to grab a glass of wine (or a beer, we don't discriminate!) and curl up with the computer to see what's new.

home at last!

Okay, so we've really been home for 12 days, but if you just came back home after being out of the country for 7 months, writing a new blog post wouldn't exactly be the first thing on your list of to-do's, would it?  Didn't think so.

I can't even express how good it feels to be back in the USA.  Where we can understand people around us.  And communicate without difficulty.  And eat the food that we're familiar with.  And..... well you get the point.  I've already told my husband countless times that he will probably have to drag me kicking and screaming to the airport come time to go back next season, and I've threatened to tell the customs officers that my husband is making me leave the country against my will.  (Okay... maybe not that dramatic, but as much as I like Finland.... it really just doesn't compare to home)  I'm just trying not to think about it for now and enjoying going to Target once, sometimes twice, a day.  That is what the offseason is for, isn't it? :)  (speaking of that... I thought it was time for a break from hockey?  Why does my hubby feel the need to torture me with watching NHL playoffs when it's supposed to be the 'offseason'?  If it's going to start consuming every aspect of my life again in AUGUST, I don't know if I can stand having to watch until mid JUNE!  Sorry, a month just isn't a long enough break for this girl!)

The weather here has been fantastic for the most part... for Springtime in Wisconsin that is!  We hit 80's last Sunday, and the past 2 days have been 60's and 70's.  J and I even enjoyed a nice bike ride around the lake yesterday.  Much better than that 20's and 30's crap we were having in Helsinki.  Hopefully it's starting to warm up a little bit over there for our friends... no one deserves that kind of weather in April! 

Of course, now it has cooled down here a bit and is rainy, just in time for our move this weekend.  Since I was stuck doing our last 2 moves by myself (compliments of dear ol' hockey) this time it's hubby's job to take care of all that crap.  I told him I'll still unpack and organize stuff, but that's mostly because I'm very anal particular about where things go.  In the meantime, we've been staying with my in-laws, which is really nice to be able to spend some extra time with family.  But I've gotta say, I cannot wait to get settled into our place and we finally get to unpack and use all of our wonderful wedding gifts!  It's going to be like getting new stuff all over again.  Who wouldn't enjoy that?  :)

We've got lots of other exciting stuff going on and coming up also.  Since we're home with many of our family and friends (and I have a little more stuff to do than winter in Helsinki), I probably won't be updating the blog as much as I have in the past (okay, I haven't been consistantly great about it anways... but I'll be happy with once or twice a week) with updates on what's going on, along with some informational posts as always.  I see lots of you have been looking for information on traveling to Europe with dogs... and I hope that you're finding your answers!  It's a piece of cake once you get the hang of it, really  (I've added info on traveling back to the U.S. from Europe also.. :) ) 

Happy Thursday! :)

moi moi finland, hello america

Well... for those of you who don't know, the team lost in game 7 of the quarterfinals on Monday night, putting and end to their season.  It was a little earlier than hoped and it was too bad they couldn't pull out a win and keep going.  But, on the bright side....

WE'RE COMING HOME TO THE U.S. of A.!!!

(nope, no excitement in that or anything... not one bit ;) )

I wish it was as simple as heading to the airport and jumping on the next flight, but unfortunately, it's not.  Stuff has to be packed up and moved to the rink for storage.  The apartment needs to be cleaned out.  Laundry has to be done.  Our car needs to be returned.  Maddie needs to go to the vet to get her papers for back home (this is about the only thing we have completely done so far... haha).  Keys to our apartment, cell phone cards, TV card, have to be returned to their proper owners.  Hubs has team meetings.  Planning a time to see our friends here before we take off.  Tickets have to be booked (...minor detail).  All of that wonderful, fun stuff that is even more fun and wonderful when it stands in the way of getting home!

I despise packing and moving (someone remind me again why I picked a lifestyle that requires I do this twice a year again?  oh, that's right, a cute boy brainwashed me into thinking it'd be fun ;) )  but I'm keeping my eye on the prize:  4 wonderful summer months spent at home, with family and friends, eating all of my lovely American foods, trips to Target whenever I feel like it, drying the laundry in a ¡dryer!, driving a car (warning to those of you I will be sharing the roads with back home: this girl hasn't driven in 7 months!) buying milk by the gallon so we don't have to go to the store every. single. day.  Don't get me wrong, I like Finland a lot, and I'm sure come July I will be more than excited to get back.  But no matter where you're from, I think we all can agree.... There's no place like home!

We don't have an offical date of arrival set yet, but it will more than likely be sometime this weekend or early next week.  The hubs is acutally at the rink right now for meetings and figuring all that good stuff out and we hope to have our flights booked by tonight.  I know I kept talking about our European trip we were going to take at the end of the season, but, for several reasons, it's just going to have to wait :)  We may decide to take a trip somewhere warm once we get back, but we'll see how we're feeling.  Right now we need to just focus on getting home first. 

So, off I go to continue packing and cleaning.  I'm still waiting for my personal assistant to come and help me.... but she just never seems to show?  Not sure what's up with that ;) 

Moi Moi Finland, see you in 4 months :)

Hello America, can't wait to see you!!

i'm realllllllly not into politics, but....

I think I've seen these pictures before...?



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Egypt?  nah, that's not it....



Lybia?  Yemen?  Nope, and Nope.



Oh, that's right.  It's WISCONSIN.  Sorry, I wasn't able to recognize my hometown with all of the protestors swarmed all over the place!

Some of you may or may not be aware of what is going on in Wisconsin right now, but my guess is that every American is to at least some degree.  It's only been all over every news channel for about a month now.  For those of you who don't know, the *very basic* rundown of it is that Wisconsin elected Rep. Scott Walker for governor in the recent 2010 election.  His promise: to repair the Wisconsin budget, which is, like the rest of the country, in deep deficit.  Sounds great, right?!  At the time... yes.  That is, until Walker introduced his budget proposal a few weeks ago, resulting in the largest uproar Wisconsin has ever seen....

In order to cut spending, Walker's bill takes away the collective bargaining rights of state employees, forces them to pay a larger share of their health care and pension plans, and results in about an 8% pay cut.  So, basically "repairing" the state's budget by significantly destroying the personal budgets of  hundreds of thousands of families all across Wisconsin.  Not only will it significantly hurt public employees' salaries & benefits, it also takes away so many of their Union rights.  This, in effect, will hurt major aspects of the Wisconsin public.... an extremely large one being EDUCATION. 

After the recent election, the Republicans hold power in the State senate, however, they need 20 State Senators present for a bill to be passed (there are 19 Republicans).  The Democrats, to demonstrate their opposition to aspects of the bill and try to protest immediate passage and buy some time to compromise and rework it, fled the state to Illinois so they could not be forced back to congress and thus resulting in the passage of the bill.

Now, this morning I have woken up to news that the Republicans found some sort of loop-hole and are inches away from passing the bill, even without the Democrats present. 

Obviously this whole mess has caused tremendous outrage across the state and country, resulting in hundreds of thousands of demonstrators protesting around the State Capitol and across Wisconsin.  The teachers Union urged it's members to call in sick in protest when the bill was first introduced, and thousands of school employees did, forcing many public school districts throughout the state to close for a day or more, and I would not be surprised if it happened again now that they are moving forward with the bill.   

Is this really the United States of America?  I am very sad for my state, and cannot believe that a thing like this is able to happen in our country.  It has ripped the state of Wisconsin apart and who knows when, if ever, the state will be united once again.  One thing is for sure - the public education system in Wisconsin is going to hurt big time as a result.  Looks like the hubs and I better start saving for our unborn future childen's private school tutition ASAP!  (or we could just stay in Finland forever? kidding, family & friends! ;) )

It's a sad day in Wisconsin.

For the record, I do not define myself as a Republican OR a Democrat.  I don't like to debate politics, and most definitely don't like to argue about them.  I just want what is best for my city, my state, my country... whatever that may be.  But THIS, is certainly not it.

eurotrip 2011

Well, I think we've come to a decision on our end of the season trip!  We have such a long list of places that we want to see in Europe... and only so much time (and money!) to do it.  So, we narrowed it down to two separate trips that we want to take by the time our contract is up in 2013. 

Trip A:  A Mediterranean cruise around Spain, Italy, Greece and that general area.  There are lots of other places that the cruises stop, including Portugal, southern France, Monaco, Croatia, Turkey, etc.  so we'll see when it comes time to book it which one we pick.  It also depends on how long we go for. 

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Trip B:  Travel throughout Western/Central Europe, including (at least some combination of) the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland & Austria.  We will probably fly from Finland to one of these places, take a train around (J found this fabulous site that seems to have great train multi-day/country train passes), and then fly back to Finland when we're done.  We're hoping to make it to all of those countries in one trip, but as we plan out the logisitics, we'll see if that's realistic or not.  We want to see as much as we can, but don't want to feel rushed in and out of cities either! 

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and the winner this year is......

TRIP B!

We figure that this is the best option for us at this time, for a lot of reasons.  We've started to research into places to go  and things to see.  I think our biggest challenge will be making the actual travel plans- what hotels to stay in, getting from place to place/when, etc.  We want to have things farily planned out, but at the same time don't want to have too tight of a schedule.  If we're really enjoying one place, we don't want to have to only spend one day there.  Or if we hate another, we'll move on to the next.  We want to take full advantage of our ability to be young and spontaneous while we can! :)

So many of you passed on some great tips of things to do and places to see when I first posted about the trip, and they have come in very handy so far and they will all be put to good use!!  THANK YOU!!

If anyone has any more tips to share, particularly pertaining to any of the countries on our trip (Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria) feel free to keep 'em coming!  I am a person who much prefers personal references and experiences over something that I read on a Google search :) 

Of course, there are many other places still on our list.  I think these will be our "big trips" that we can only do at the end of the season, but hopefully we can squeeze some other little shorter trips in here and there.  It's such a wonderful opportunity to be over here... we want to take full advantage of it! :)

On a different note... only 3 more hockey games left in the regular season!  Can't believe how fast it has flown.  Of course I am getting super excited for not only our trip... but to GO HOME!!  I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am to do such simple things like drive a car, eat a good meal out, wander aimlessly down the aisles of Target, and SEE FAMILY and FRIENDS!  Ahh, the simple joys in life :)  However, first the team's gotta take care of business here, and hopefully that means a good playoff run!
 

HAPPY FRIDAY!

that's it.

...I'm going to the spa.  I need some severe de-stressing and relaxation.  I've been in a terrible funk for over a week now and can't seem to shake it. 

I was hesitant to make any sort of blog posts about my little self-pity party, in fear that friends, family, and anyone else reading would think that I had gone off the deep end and put me in a psych ward.  But if it's any consolation, over the past couple weeks, I have found that I'm not alone.  Fellow hockey wife bloggers KY , Hockey Wife and Life of a Hockey Widow have recently blogged about similar feelings.  KY has dubbed it "hockey season-al depression", and it is just that. 

It's January.  It's cold.  It's dark.  The new-ness of the hockey season and excitement of being in a new place is totally gone.  It's the second half of the season, yet the off-season seems so far away.   The holidays have come and gone.  It's been almost 5 months since I've seen friends or family back home.  The day-to-day struggles of living in a foreign country, though a little easier now, are still very present and real.  (this is where I could go on and on forever... but I'll spare us both)

I think know J has come scar-ily close to booking me on the next flight home the past few days.  I haven't been able to shake things, even with all of his love and support.  I've realized this is something that no one is going to be able to fix but me. 

As a friend (and fellow hockey wife in Europe)'s facebook status said today: 

"We may not be able to control events, but we can control our attitude toward them."

It is so right.  I need an attitude adjustment. 

So today I called J while he was on the bus to an away game.  Short and sweet, "I'm going to the spa.  I need a massage.  I love you, I'm sorry.  Bye"

Time to shift the negativity into positivity.  What better way to start than with a trip to the spa, follwed by a girls night while the guys are gone?  Ahhhhh, I can feel the stress shedding from my body already....

you want me to... what?

I thought I'd dedicate my post today to some of the goofy (to us, at least) things that we encounter on a somewhat daily basis here in Finland.  I'm not sure if all of these things are standard around other parts of Europe or not, but they are sure to raise the eyebrows of anyone from the U.S.!

1)  Buying bags at the grocery store (or any store for that matter).  Sure, you may spend 100 euros, but does that earn you the right to get your purchase in a plastic (that probably cause them about 5 cents, tops) bag to carry home?  Not at the majority of stores you walk into!  If you want a bag, you had better grab one and put it on the checkout counter, it's going to cost you 20 cents.  Oh, you'd prefer paper? That'll be 50!  No, 20 cents won't break the bank, but if you count every time you go to the store (x the number of bags you get) it starts to add up.  We use reusable bags both here and at home, but of course only remember them half the time.  I guess it's a good effort to encourage recycling and not wasting bags, which I don't disagree with, but c'mon, if I spend a significant amount of money in your store, the least you could do is give a sister a bag (I promise I'll reuse it as a trash bag later!)


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 2)  Bagging your own groceries.  After that shiny-new-20-cent plastic bag comes across the scanner, you had better get your tush to the end of the checkout and start filling it.  Fast.  No, the bagger boy isn't just lagging behind at the checkout next to you... YOU are the bagger boy.  You quickly catch on to a good method on how to properly pack a grocery bag (which leaves you wondering how the bagger boys at home still always manage to put your eggs and bread on the bottom...) and, if you're like me, start testing your skills and timing yourself to see how fast you can go.  I even sometimes (secretly) race the person next to me and do a little celly dance if I win.  Hey, life is only as fun as you make it, right?



hey kids... I'll give you a dollar if you bag mine, too!


3) Assigned seats at the movie theatre.  I think I could go either way with this one.  Doesn't seem like all that bad of an idea, you get to pick where you want to sit, plus you don't have to worry about rushing right into the theatre to get a good seat (you won't want to when you see how many different kinds of foods, drinks and candy are scattered throughout the lobby!).  But I think we can all think of a time or 2 when you get stuck next to the group of 13 year olds that giggle every time they say "boob" or the chatty group of ladies there for their "mom's night out" gossip session (why did you come to a movie theatre again?).  In that case, I enjoy my freedom of being able to get up and move to the furthest seat possible.

no lady, your kid throwing popcorn at the back of my head is NOT cute
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4) The bathroom door code.  So, you need to get up from your movie and take a potty break? (hey, those 32 oz. soft drinks will get the best of everyone...)  Better bring your ticket with you!  No, not to get back in the theatre... but because you will need the "bathroom code" that is printed on it.  When I first saw the keypad next to the bathroom door that was locked I thought "wtf? I have to pay to use the bathroom, too?!"  Nah, you just need the 4 digit code on your ticket, but that's still beyond my comprehension.  Do movie theatres have a problem with homeless people coming in to bathe in their bathrooms or something?

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5) No drinks in the seating area.  Ok, so the reason I go to hockey games is obviously to watch my husband play.  But as for the 8,000 or so other people, I'd venture to guess that most of them are there for some combination of watching hockey, socializing, and having a few adult beverages.  I don't usually choose to drink at my hubby's games (I like to actually watch the game, plus I'm not a big drinker as it is)  but I think that this rule is really pointless.  No one is allowed to bring alcohol into the seating area, it must remain in the concourse area.  So, needless to say, come the last minute of the period there is a huge rush out to the concession stands, bars and restaurants to binge as many drinks as possible in the next 20 minutes.  This creates ridiculously long lines and overcrowding of the concourse.  It will take you the entire intermission just to fight the crowd and get around the arena once.  I think their theory is that it slows down people's drinking (Finns tend to drink a lot, which brings them out of their usual shy shell... a.k.a. they get ROWDY) but here's a hint: it doesn't!  It just means that instead of casually drinking 3 beers over 2 periods, they guzzle them all in one intermission.  FAIL!



Crowd during the game (away game)



Intermission


5)  What's a stop sign?  There are virtually no stop signs around.  It is common knowledge that the car to the right has the "right of way" so when you come up to an intersection, you yield to them.  Sure, we use the same concept in the U.S., but it almost always accompanies a stop sign or light (or at very least, a yield sign!)  If we Americans just assumed everyone to follow this, there would be a lot more accidents, and quite frankly (thinking especially back to my days of living in Massachusetts... haha ;) )  I'd be scared to drive. 

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6) What's that?  You wanted the box with your shoes?  Here, when you buy a pair of shoes, they take them out of the box and put them, just the shoes, into the bag.  I'm guessing to reuse the box and reduce waste, but c'mon, if I buy expensive shoes I do NOT want them sitting loose in a bag while I carry it home.  This reminds me of a pair of black stilettos I bought last month- I was carrying my unboxed new shoes home in their bag and stopped at the liquor store.  I happened to stumble across some Sam Adam's Winter Lager at the store (not a common occurance, so when you find that kind of stuff, you have to get it!)  In attempt to reduce waste (okay, and save 20 cents) I chose to put them in my bag from the shoe store.  2 black stilettos and 8 bottles of beer.  CLASSY.

I wonder where people here keep all of their old love notes and memorablia from ex's?

That's all I've got for now.  I'm sure I could think of a bunch of other things, but that's what is on the top of my head tonight.  Any of you that are living away from home and experience similar quirky things, feel free to add to my list! :)

10 things i am most thankful for in 2010

Sure, Thanksgiving was a month ago.  But all of the holiday season is a time to think about what we are thankful for and also to reflect on everything that happened over the past year.  With that, I decided to make a list of my:

Top 10 Things I am Most Thankful for in 2010

(tie) 1) Family and Friends.  No brainer.  Sorry if I'm boring you by putting them at the top of every list I make, but how could I not?  We're blessed with such wonderful people in our lives, and they deserve every bit of recognition that I can give them.  You help make both of us the people that we are.

(tie) 1) My husband.  I couldn't ask for a better person to spend the rest of my life with.  This has been a huge year for us, and I know it's only going to get even better.  You're always there for me when I'm having a tough day and can always put a smile on my face. 

3) Our Dream Wedding.  It is, and probably will forever be, the best (and most fun) day of our lives.  We had 160 of our nearest and dearest all in the same room to celebrate us.  What more could you ask for?  Everything worked out flawlessly (ok, I'm sure there were a little bumps throughout the day... but obviously they weren't a big deal since I don't even remember them 6 months later!)  Everyone had such a blast and it turned out just the way we were hoping it to.  I'm even more thankful to our parents, because if it wasn't for them, it would have never happened.

4) Hockey.  Sure, it's a love-hate relationship, but there's no denying that it has brought great things to our lives.  First, it provides an income for us.  And how many other people get to move to Europe in their twenties?  There are definitely perks that come with the life.  On top of it all, my husband gets to wake up every morning knowing that he's going to a job that he loves.  Doesn't get much better than that.  As a friend of mine quotes on her facebook profile "Find a job that you love, and you'll never have to work a day in your life."

5) Other Hockey Wives.  Whether it's ones I know personally or not, these ladies make me feel a lot less alone in this crazy little world that we live in.  From advice to sharing stories, support to making new friends, I don't know what I'd do without them!  So few people understand our lives, so it's important to be able to connect with one another and have people to talk to who "get it".

6) Skype.  I hadn't really used Skype much until this year.  Now, I don't know what I'd do without it!!  Being able to talk to and SEE family and friends across the world is amazing.  I can't imagine what it would be like living over here without it (and it wasn't that long ago that people had to!)

7) Money.  But not in the sense that you're thinking of.  I am thankful that we have a steady income to support ourselves and pay the bills.  It seems like a simple thing, but so many people don't even have that.  The security that it provides makes day to day life a lot easier (which, I know, is where the irony comes in, since many say that money only complicates things)

8) Maddie.  She probably knows me better than anyone else, even my hubby.  She hears all my secrets and  see how I act when nobody is watching.  She nurses me when I'm sick, sleeps on my feet when they're cold, and listens to me when I need someone to talk to.  No one else gets so excited every time I walk in the door and makes me feel as important as she does.

9) Finland.  I feel so blessed to have been given the opportunity to live in this beautiful country.  I learn something new about it every day, and it has been a wonderful place to live.  Almost every person I have come into contact with has been welcoming and helpful.  The team has been wonderful to us, and I have only good things to say about our stay here so far!

10) Learning so many new things about myself.  Okay, that's kind of broad.  But I think I have grown a lot as a person in the past year especially, and I'm really proud of that.  Every challange that I face (and overcome) makes me aware of what a strong person I am.  I think I have always been ahead of my years in maturity, but I think I have surpassed even that in this past year.  I have learned a lot of new things about the world, cultures, people, myself, and life in general.  I'm pretty content with who I am right now :)

Also:  I added a "my story" page at the top.  For those of you interested in reading, you can also find it here.

♥

4 days until Christmas!

♥

top 10 things i miss most about home

Unfortunately, we don't get to go back to the U.S. for Christmas (the guys don't have enough time off) and it will be our first Christmas that we don't spend with our families.  I've been a little sad about it, but I've come to terms with the fact that this is our lives now and pouting about it isn't going to change anything.  We just have to make the most of what we're given to work with, and we plan to do just that.  It's time to start some of our own holiday traditions :)

Christmas "break" marks the halfway point through the season here in Finland.  Time flies!  Since the holiday season has been making me think more about home lately, I thought I'd dedicate my post to the things that I miss most about home. 



1) Obviously, the thing that I miss most about home is our family and friends.  Nothing else on this list means as much as them.  We are so lucky to have such wonderful loved ones who support us in everything that we do.  As many other hockey wives know, it's not easy to keep good friends when we move around so much.  Quality far outweights quantity.  Luckily for me, I've got a few quality good friends that understand our crazy lives :)

2) My Blackberry.  The phone I have here right now is brand new, but I'm pretty sure it's the same model I was using in 2002.  Anyone remember T9 texting?  Yup, that's what I have to use!  It's almost comical.  Aside from the visual embarassment and functional difficulties, No Blackberry = no BBM and internet to connect with my family and friends easier :(  It is so weird to not be able to pick up my phone and BBM/text someone whenever I think of something or feel like talking to someone.   Why don't I just get a Blackberry here, you ask?  Well, Finland has decided to make as difficult as possible for me seeing as they don't sell them anywhere here!  Nowhere! not in the entire country.  Ugh!  Although, I'm hoping Santa will find a way to bring me a new one this year...

3) A Clothes Dryer.  Seems sooo simple... yet... not.  Not only am I sick of air drying all of my clothes (hello, they get super stiff!)  but it's annoying that you can't do more than one load of laundry per day (no where to put it!) and our apartment isn't the biggest in the first place- much less having the drying rack taking up space.  And, sometimes you just don't want the drying rack sitting out.  Um... I don't really care to have my undies sitting out to dry when we have company over, thanks!

4) Target.  Do I really need to explain this one?  I am the Target queen!  If I could only shop at one store for the rest of my life, I would choose Target.  I don't think I've ever stepped foot in the store and not come out with anything. 

5)  Nordstrom/Macy's.  My 2 favorite department stores.  Stockmann department store here definitely rivals them (and in many areas wins!)  but I have small feet, and I know I can always find shoes at Nordstrom and not having to worry about seeing a 10 year old wearing the same pair.  They are one of the few places that carry size 4 and 5 (and more than just 1 pair!) and if they don't have them in, they order them and have them sent to my door for free.  Both of these stores have a lot of the brands and designers that I love, and for fractions of the prices they are here.

6) Culver's.  Ohhh, Cuvler's.  I hate to love you, but I do.  We try to eat very healthy, but Culver's is one guilty pleasure that I will give into.  I am in love with their chili cheese fries.  Top it off with a dish of custard for dessert and you will be my best friend forever.

7) My car.  Well, technically it's not even my car anymore.. my parents bought it in the first place so my mom repo-ed it when we moved across the pond :)  But, I miss my Altima!  And driving at all for that matter.  I'm afraid I won't know how to drive when we get back!  It's been 3 1/2 months since I've driven at all.  And that doesn't look like it'll be changing anytime soon...

8) A bath tub. (and Bath and Body Works goodies to go with it) Another one of those "so simple, yet so hard" things.  I can't count how many times I've been dying to take a nice warm bubble bath after coming in from out in the freezing cold.  Not only that, but I actually have the time on my hands to sit and take a relaxing bath for once.  Yet we're stuck with only a shower.  Go figure :( 

9) American TV shows.  Sure, we get them here... if you like watching My Super Sweet 16 season 1 on repeat all weekend.  The shows that are on tv here are always a season behind, and they are seriously lacking in variety.  J lucks out most from this one- all of his hockey channels seem to come in just fine!  Weird how that works ;).  The biggest bummer is not even being able to watch shows online (legally, at least)  because they are "blocked" over here.  It just makes it that much more difficult to try and watch... needless to say I don't do a whole lot of tv watching here.  My apologies to HGTV, TLC, and E! ... your ratings are probably down.  I'll be back in the Spring, promise! :)

10) A familiar grocery store/Trader Joe's/Whole Foods.  Oh, how I miss being able to maneuver the aisles and actually know what I'm getting.  I'm getting better and better here, but almost always before I try a new recipe I have to get advice from my good old buddy Google Translate before I hit the store.  Several times I have bought things thinking they were one thing only to find out they were something completely different.  Not to mention trying to find natural/organic products poses great difficulty also.  I think we do okay, but I can't wait to get back and get my hands on some of the stuff that we aren't able to buy here.  Not to mention all those cute names they have for things at TJ's!

I'm sure I could go on and on as I thought of more things... but I'm curious to know what you think.  What would you miss the most if you were away from home for a good portion of the year?  Hockey wives, what can you not wait to get your hands on in the offseason?  It's amazing to realize how much you take for granted once you step back and think about it... :)